If you log in with
Twitter or Facebook
and are not a user on this website, you will be registered and you agree to our
Terms & Conditions.
To find out how we collect and use personal data please read our privacy and cookies policy.

or

Your username or password is incorrect. Please try again. Don't have an account? Sign up here.

Sign in with your existing Hubbub account. Don't have an account? Sign up here.

Notification

If you log in with
Twitter or Facebook
and are not a user on this website, you will be registered and you agree to our
Terms & Conditions.
To find out how we collect and use personal data please read our privacy and cookies policy.

Password Reset

Enter the email address you registered with us below.

If we find an account registered with this address, you'll receive an email message with your username and a link to reset your password within 3 minutes.

HELP
TWO ST ANDREWS STUDENTS TO EQUIP AND TRAIN HEALTH WORKERS FROM CAIRO TO CAPE
TOWN IN THE FIGHT AGAINST PREVENTABLE BLINDNESS AND DEAFNESS.

The
project

We
are two students from the University of St Andrews undertaking a 10,000km
tandem-bike expedition from Cairo to Cape Town across the African continent.

Merlin
Hetherington is a third year Medical student and Alex McMaster is a third year
Biology and Geography student.

Our
objective is to distribute the ground-breaking Arclight medical device,
pioneered in St Andrews, to equip health workers in the fight against
preventable blindness and deafness.

The Arclight
is an innovative,
pocket-sized ophthalmoscope and otoscope that works as well as conventional
medical equipment, but is produced at a fraction of the cost. The solar-powered
device is designed to meet the needs of low-income countries and can be used by
any trained health worker to look into the eye and diagnose leading causes of
blindness including cataract, trachoma, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, all
of which are easily treatable if diagnosed early.

We pedal out from Cairo on World Sight Day (11 October 2018), cycle
through 11 countries arriving in Cape Town in May 2019. Many nights we
will be camping under the stars in the bush, while we will spend others amongst the noise of some of Africa’s largest
cities. When cycling we will need to cover 150km a day and we have prearranged training sessions in each country.

Our
goal
is to deliver
2000
Arclights
to local health workers for free and train them in its use.

Before
we go, we are meeting key
collaborators at the annual conference of the College of Ophthalmology of
Eastern, Central and South Africa (COECSA) in Addis Ababa, where Merlin will present his dissertation on Arclight training resources.

Our
project is supported by the University of St Andrews R&A Travel
Scholarship, the
Scientific Exploration Society (SES),
the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Saints Sport and the School of Medicine, University of St Andrews.

Why
should
you
support our project?

80% of blindness and 50% of deafness can be prevented if
diagnosed early and treated (WHO).

Treatment
for eye diseases in low-income countries currently tends to be centralised in
large urban hospitals. We need to empower health workers in rural areas to
diagnose and refer eye diseases early - before they become life or sight-threatening.

Like
immunisation, sight- and hearing-preserving interventions are one of public
health’s ‘best buys’, generating a profound impact on poverty reduction by
enabling people to remain economically and socially productive.

Where
will your money go?

Funding additional Arclight devices.

Raising awareness and spreading the message - we would like to make a short
film to raise the profile of preventable blindness and showcase the
application of technological innovation in prioritising the needs of low-income
countries.

Many of the costs of the expedition itself, such as the bike, are covered by the University and the SES, but maintaining the equipment and ensuring our safety and security is crucial to the success of the project.

Additional countries - the more donations we receive, the greater the potential to pedal further!

Examples

£6,000
will
cover all remaining trip costs

£11,000
will
cover all the remaining trip costs and secure an additional 1,000 Arclight
devices

£16,000
will
cover all the remaining trip costs and secure an additional 2,000 Arclight
devices

£20,000
+
will cover all the remaining trip costs, 2,000 Arclight devices and
a budget towards a short film.

With
just two months until our departure, the funding we can gather over the coming
weeks will dictate the distance we can
go and the number of Arclights we distribute. We hope you feel motivated
to help us succeed! Please share this page – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by
email, phone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog – with anyone you think
would support us.

There can never be too many donations! Donations received over and above our maximum target will stay within the Arclight project, in the School of Medicine, and help to continue funding this amazing project for future years.